Thrond

They really don't seem that different from their pony counterparts to me. Staying in an alien world where there's even more scary magic and you're stuck in a strange new body honestly doesn't seem that appealing to me.

On second viewing, I'm a little more open to what this is trying to do. I see the idea of Twilight's hero worship blinding her to reasonable doubts, and I see that Starlight slowly breaks her down; at least Twilight is the one who goes after Stygian at the end, if only at first. But it's just not good enough; all of the characters have been reduced to mouthpieces, so there's barely any character development. Even accounting for her hero worship, Twilight's decisions in the first half are baffling; isn't she supposed to be the smart one? Later on, she's the only character who expresses some kind of doubt, and even gets to save Stygian at the end, but she can't even do that without Starlight backing her up. She's still ready to banish the Pony of Shadows until she sees Stygian, and so her realization that "oh yeah, sometimes the villains are still people" just isn't satisfying. Starlight's presence here sticks out like a sore thumb, which isn't helped by the fact that she doesn't blend with the other characters at all. At this point there just wasn't much to her aside from her past, but not only does her reference to it seem self-absorbed (even when she's talking about Stygian, she's really talking about herself), it serves as a reminder of how redundant this story is. We've already been through this a few times in Friendship is Magic alone, and Equestria Girls had done it a few more times on top of that. That fact - that Twilight personally oversaw Starlight's reformation, and was also present for every step of Discord's and Luna's - makes it all the harder to accept that she wouldn't accept Starlight's point, and it's absurd that a Princess would submit so easily to a perceived authority figure. And sue me, I want the main characters of a show called Friendship is Magic to at least consider trying friendship. It seems kinda like the writers didn't have enough time to fully develop their ideas, but the first half is mostly pointless, so why couldn't that have just been cut? I don't have any investment in the Pillars, who at this point were characters I had barely met and whose importance to Equestria is completely unconvincing. An entire episode is spent saving them, just for us to learn that this was the wrong decision. It seems like it only exists to compensate for the fact that Twilight's friends get nothing to do in the meatier second half, but all that first half amounts to is a MacGuffin hunt where half of the MacGuffins are acquired through implausible means. The Rarity scene is especially embarrassing - what, is it so hard to figure out that an overgrown garden could use a trim? I like that the map is only responding to outside inquiries in this one, though. I still think this has its funny moments, and I respect its ambition. But it's just so expository and heavy-handed. More often than not, characters talk to explain the plot, often offering each other's positions. But Twilight's and Starswirl's positions are so weak, and Starlight spends so much time pushing hers, that it's hard to take the wrong arguments seriously. So all that's left is cliched spectacle, but the mythology and imagery here are generic even by My Little Pony standards. That stuff just isn't what I watch the show for, and if it has to come at the expense of character, then my standards are way higher than this. There's an interesting idea somewhere in here, but it's been carelessly buried in a contrived cookie-cutter season finale. I'm so glad the later seasons let this show breathe again.

You post in old threads that haven't been active for years, many of which are outdated.

Seasons 5 and 7 are my least favourite seasons of the show. Both have a handful of episodes I love, but those are very much in the minority those seasons, and the prevailing trends those seasons never interested me at all. If anything, I felt seasons 8 and 9 felt to me like the show loosening up a bit after the stodginess of season 7. I miss Equestria Girls way more than Friendship is Magic. That series ended too soon. And I really liked seeing the mane six in a down-to-earth setting again.

The fact that she had a dark past makes it easier for her to relate to misbehaving students, therefore making it easier for her help them. And the fact that she went through so much to become a functioning member of society makes it easier for her to help everyone else.

I don't think one of the main characters could possibly be the "most hated" character in the show. In fact, I personally remain a fan of her. Surely the most hated character is one of those one-time villains.

I think Rainbow Rocks is head-and-shoulders above all of the others, though "Rollercoaster of Friendship" is also quite good. "Holidays Unwrapped" comes pretty close, but I don't think that should count as one special.

Honestly, I think the fact that suddenly some of the characters are couples helps with the idea that this is some time in the future and a lot has changed. Which is useful because this is an episode about friendship surviving major changes in these ponies' lives. I don't think the romantic angle is an important part of this story otherwise.

Honestly I think that episode was about how Scootaloo has bad parents. I mean yes the execution is weird but what happens in that episode is that her parents make a major change to her life out of nowhere despite having neglected her for years beforehand. Though perhaps that's a conversation for that episode's thread.

The basic premise of the episode is that they're wrong to be saying that. Really not a fan of the mane six saying such things in the first place, though; I much preferred the previous season where they were standing against racism (speciesism?).

The early seasons, where Rarity was often kinda selfish, aren't really my favourite period for that character, but at best ("Sweet and Elite") you see her actively struggle to balance her ambitions with her values. I think that's one of the things this show did best. But I'm also not bothered by the mane six not sticking to their elements.

People hold the mane six too closely to the Elements of Harmony, and those characters are better for not embodying their element all the time. Twilight Sparkle becoming a princess was never a good idea. I like a lot of CMC episodes but would never list them among my favourite characters in the show. They should have been more distinct from each other. I find it kinda boring how much pony culture and history seems to just copy human culture and history. The non-pony species are so much more interesting, especially later in the show when they actually started to be taken seriously. Ponies are still the cutest though.

My opinion has shifted several times with these two since I first posted here; they've both gone through periods where I really liked them and where I really did not. At the end, I would say that I like them both a lot at their best, but find them both very inconsistent. Starlight will probably never be one of my favourite characters, because she just doesn't feel distinctive; the only personality traits of hers I find entirely unique are her rudeness and her occasional disregard for others, the latter of which usually makes her unlikable. And those traits aren't always there. When she's more grounded, I feel it doesn't fit the show's tone, which leaves her feeling kinda bland to me. I liked her a fair bit in season 8, where she usually wasn't stealing the spotlight and was often a little rude in a way that was endearing and at times even productive. But then she was relegated to the sidelines in season 9 and was just Diet Twilight again in her few focus episodes, which was likeable enough but hardly something I was invested in. Depending on the episode, Sunset is either much better than Starlight or much worse. At her best, she's an appealing, well fleshed-out character nearly on par with the mane six. At her worst, she seems more like a bland avatar for the other characters to bounce off of. Whenever she develops a new interest or character trait, it tends to feel completely arbitrary because her base characterization is so inconsistent. I have a strong idea of who Sunset Shimmer should be, but not necessarily of who she is. A lot of shorts and specials strung throughout the Equestria Girls series made good use of her and establish what a properly developed version of Sunset might look like, but there were still too many where she barely seemed to have a personality at all. So I like both I guess but they both frustrate me.

Ooh, it's tough. They all have their moments. Applejack seems like the most obvious pick to me, because she's tough and confident by nature - Twilight and Rainbow have both done more impressive stuff, but they're more self-conscious. But after some consideration I'm leaning towards Pinkie Pie, who is the only one who could wield Discord's chaos magic, however briefly. We all underestimate her because she's silly but she's capable of some crazy stuff. I even understand why some people might pick Rarity and Fluttershy - most of the time they would rather not be badass, but that makes it even more impressive when they are.

Yeah, I just wasn't really into it by the end. In my opinion it peaked early and then mostly went downhill, with the occasional spike in quality. Honestly kinda felt like it went on too long; would have been just fine with it ending sooner.

I still lean towards mane six, even though Spike is pretty close to all six of them. He's pretty clearly part of that friend group, and has been grouped with them pretty often, and yet I always feel the age difference in his interactions with them; he doesn't feel like their peer. Maybe I'm just distracted by the fact that he's not a pony. Plus he doesn't casually hang out with them very much in the later seasons, by which point he has gotten a separate friend group. Starlight is clearly important to the show, but she was never integrated with the mane six. First she was connected to them solely through Twilight, then she started making her own friends outside of that group. When she saves the world, it's never with the mane six, except for the season 7 finale two-parter. She was hired as part of the school staff and then promptly went on to continue doing her own thing in most of the episodes she appeared in. Though in retrospect "main six" was a bit of a misleading phrase, since most episodes didn't feature all six of them, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were almost as prominent. Later we had the student six taking the spotlight as well; by the end, it could be argued that there were as many as 17 main characters. I'm under the impression that this is a relatively small cast for a show which exists to sell toys.

Very, very carefully.

I'm partial to "The Best Night Ever." I think it really embodies everything that makes the show great, especially in this period. I feel like I've watched it a hundred times.

I still don't really like that first episode, alas.

Seeing this thread revived is funny to me because at the time I would have disagreed but then every other time she appeared was gold.

A long enough period where I wasn't enjoying the show at all, I guess... if any specific event were enough to have made me quit, I would probably have dropped the show a long time ago. Though changing the art style too much was apparently enough to keep me away from Pony Life.

Still not 100% sure what the criteria are for becoming an alicorn but if Twilight meets them then the other five surely do as well. Though it's a little different if we factor in how every alicorn we see is a princess...

Do you mean "The Saddle Row Review"? "P.P.O.V. (Pony Point of View)" is the one where Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie have different stories about what happened on their boating trip. I do not believe that one was popular.

The show's setting seems to have become more modern over time. Considering that, I find it makes sense for them to have conventions in hotels. Plus I don't think it's so crazy for this world to have different biomes and cultures in it, though having all of that within one country is slightly odd.